Photography from south-east Asia by Jon Sanwell

Dusk to dawn at the Golden Rock

December 9, 2015

The gold-covered, gravity-defying boulder at the top of Mount Kyaiktiyo is an important pilgrimage site for Burmese Buddhists, and an increasingly recognisable image of Myanmar. I spent an evening and a morning there, watching the colours change as the sun set and rose.

Pilgrims attach gold leaf to the rock’s surface

4.45pm. Blue and gold

Offerings

5.30pm. The last light of day

Pilgrims light candles. Many of these visitors will stay all night

6.00pm. As the sunlight fades, the rock is flood-lit from behind and below